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Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal
communication is defined by Michael Cody as: the
exchangeof symbols used to achieve interpersonal
goals(28). Does this definitioninclude everything,
or does it only include certain things?. When we
aredealing with the issue of interpersonal
communication we must realize thatpeople view it
differently. In this paper I will develop my own
idea ordefinition of what interpersonal
communication is. I will then proceed toidentify
any important assumptions or issues that become
important in thedefinition that I choose. Finally,
I will provide examples of communicative
andnon-communicative events based on my
definition.

Interpersonal communication, in my
opinion, is the exchange ofinformation verbal or
non-verbal between two, no more than 5 or 6,
people forthe purpose of getting a feedback and
sharing information. Interpersonalcommunication is
not interpersonal if it involves too many people.
When thenumber of people exceeds a certain amount
it is no longer interpersonalcommunication,it then
becomes mass communication. In my definition it is
vitalthat feed-back be given to the person that is
doing the communicating. Whenfeedback is not
present then the lines of communication break down
and thenthere is no communication at all. Even if
the message is perceived wronginterpersonal
communication still exists as long as the feedback
is given. Forexample: when you talk to someone
that is hard of hearing and you ask them to
dosomething and they hear you say something other
than what you said there isstill interpersonal
communication, although it is miscommunication.

If
theperson, however, does not here the speaker at
all and does not give any feedback,then
interpersonal communication has not been
established according to mydefinition. Another
important dimension to my definition is that the
information isexchanged in order to share the
information. When the information that isexchanged
is not used to share the information, then
interpersonal communicationhas not taken place. If
you speak in a way in which the person does not
feelreceptive to what you are saying then you have
not achieved interpersonalcommunication. When a
boss yells at his employees, or a teacher yells at
his orher students then interpersonal
communication has not taken place.
Truecommunication has taken place, but it was not
interpersonal communication. Theinformation is not
being shared it is being forced upon people.

The
informationhas to be shared such as when a friend
tells another friend about a problem thathe or she
is having or when a child talks to his or her
parents about somethingpersonal. That information
is being shared by two people in order to illicit
afeedback. There are many important issues that
become important when discussing mydefinition of
interpersonal communication. One primary
assumption is thatcommunication must be carried on
by people that are alive. Michael Cody uses
anassumption like this when he is discussing his
definition of interpersonalcommunication. Codys'
assumption says that interpersonal communication
occursbetween people who are in a state of being.
His state of being is differentform mine in that I
mainly imply that the person must be alive in
order toestablish interpersonal communication.

In
Cody' assumption his state of beingis three
pronged including, 1) people change, 2) people are
searching formeaning for development and 3) it
implies that communication can never bereplicated
(Cody 30). When Cody talks about 'being ' he is
going into moredetail than I would. As stated
earlier my state of being means just being alive.
Another important issue that needs to be brought
up when discussing mydefinition of interpersonal
communication is the issue of the number of
people.When dealing with the issue of
interpersonal communication the amount of
peoplebeing communicated with is of utmost
importance. Can a preacher haveinterpersonal
communication with his congregation on Sunday
morning?. Accordingto my definition he cannot.
Interpersonal communication must be done when
thereis a certain amount of people. You cannot
have one person and haveinterpersonal
communication, likewise, you cannot have a hundred
people and haveinterpersonal communication either.
Interpersonal communication must be donewhen at
least two people are present.

In order for the
communication to stayeffective you cannot have
more than six people. The reason for the
limitationis that when too many people get
involved it becomes harder to bring forth
themessage that you want to send. As I stated
earlier if the message is not sentand shared then
interpersonal communication has not taken place.
Finally, I would like to discuss some examples of
communicative and non-communicative events based
on the definition that I have given. An example of
acommunicative event that would use my definition
would be as follows: When twopeople are talking
they are speaking to each other in order to
changeinformation. For example: When you walk the
street and you see someone youknow you speak and
you ask ' how was your day'. The point when you
asked howthe persons day was you initiated the
process of interpersonal communication.The person
will respond, and the information that the person
shares with youcompletes the process of
interpersonal communication.

An example of non-
verbal communication using my definition is
somewhatmore difficult. When you are sitting at
restaurant and you a start playing foottag with
your date you are sending a non-verbal form of
interpersonalcommunication. The first contact of
the foot is the initiation of thecommunication.
When the person responds, favorably or
unfavorably, non-verbalinterpersonal communication
has taken place. In conclusion I would like to say
that developing a definition forinterpersonal
communication is no easy task. Because
interpersonalcommunication is such a vague topic
it makes it that more difficult. With mucheffort
and practice we can develop a universal definition
for interpersonalcommunication.

Interpersonal
communication, in my opinion, is the exchange
ofinformation verbal or non-verbal between two, no
more than 5 or 6, people forthe purpose of getting
a feedback and sharing information. I have
explained myreasons for choosing this definition
and I have also given information andexample that
will support it. My definition is by no means
exhaustive, but Ithink it is a start to developing
a universally excepted definition for the
terminterpersonal communication..